New Normal

Just when we had started to adjust to our new routine--two working parents, both kids in school--we decided to shake things up again. This semester Mike went back to school. Not only is he teaching military history and military science to freshmen and sophomores he is also taking his first two grad school classes.
We've been discussing the possibility of Mike going to grad school for months, it's one of the main reasons he took a position as an ROTC instructor. As a faculty member he gets free tuition. He is determined to finish up his Masters before we move again. I don't think I was quite prepared for how busy we would be. It is quite the balancing act, we're managing but we've quickly discovered that it is complicated....schedules for everyone, Mike and I are communicating via our outlook calendars, I feel like we're rarely home to put the kids to bed together (that rarely happened to begin with but previously it was always Mile that was working late). We are making it work but it has been a challenge to adjust to our new normal.

Guardian Angel on Duty

My dad was in a pretty serious accident today. He is ok. His truck is totaled. My little sister drove right by the wreck just after it happened and didn't recognize his truck because it was so badly damaged so she continued on her way to school. My dad did spend several hours getting checked out at the doctor's office this afternoon. He is home and recuperating. We are all a little shaken up. Thankful he's safe. Please keep him in your thoughts, I'm sure he will be pretty sore tomorrow.

Really????

I came across a groupon not to long ago for $100 off purchase tires at a local merchant for only $30. We were in desperate need of new tires for the Acadia so I was so excited to see the groupon. The kids had an dentist appointment and Mike and I had both cleared our morning schedules to take them to their appointment so it seamed like a good day to take the car in for new tires.

The morning started off well. I enjoyed sleeping in a bit and having breakfast with the kids. Mike got in a short bike ride. We ran a few errands and dropped off the Acadia for it's new tires and loaded up in Mike's car to head over to the dentist. We were about 2 minutes away from the dentist when Mike's car got a flat tire. We were running a bit early for our appointment so the kids and I set off to walk over to our appointment so that Mike could take care of the tire and meet us at the dentist after he changed the flat.

• After walking for about 20 minutes (it's pretty slow going with a 3 year old who insists on stopping every 5 feet to point various things out) I realized we were still about a mile and a half away.


• We finally made it to our dentist appointment to realize that I had written the appointment down wrong and we had actually missed our appointment, it was the day before.


• We started the long trek back to the car. At this point I was promising Peter ice cream every 50 feet or so to entice him to continue walking.


• We finally made it back to Mike and the car. By this time we'd discovered that he'd had to call road-side assistance to get help loosing the lug nuts and had finished changing the tire.


• During our long walk back to Mike and the car I called Nanny D to see if she could come rescue us. Fortunately she knew exactly where we were and promised to be there in minutes.


• I discovered an orange and a juice box in my purse and the kids were thrilled with their well earned snack.


• Peter announced he had to potty and proceeded to pull down his pants in the middle of the sidewalk. Apparently he's not shy about going potty in public.

On the upside it was a beautiful day! Our dentist is in a really nice area of town and we enjoyed the walk. The kids were thrilled to see Nanny D and got to enjoy some time at the park. Mike was with me! I don't know what I would have done if I was by myself! The Dentist was very understanding and didn't even charge us for our missed appointment.

Spending almost my entire paycheck on new tires still wasn't very fun....The next time we buy a car I think we'll make sure that each tire isn't $200!

Sir Saint

Sir Saint (the official mascot of the New Orleans Saints) made a special visit to Peter's school last week. I had planned on stopping by but couldn't get away from work. I think it turned out for the best. Mike and Peter had a blast and enjoyed some special father-son bonding time.



Score there's cake!



Wonder what they're talking about, or why Peter is the only one sitting at the table with him....


The boys